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About Sacred Space

Sacred Space is inspired by the spirituality of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, a sixteenth-century Basque, whose insights into God's working with the human heart have been of great assistance to countless people over the centuries and are found more helpful than ever today.

Sacred Space is a work of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus - the Jesuits. The site originated in the offices of the Jesuit Communication Centre in Ireland in 1999. Within a short time, many other languages were introduced.

The Sacred Space logo draws on a well-established Jesuit motif often referred to as a ‘sunburst’ which was used to encircle the IHS, a monogram of the name of Jesus. The compass rose – a pattern used to distinguish the cardinal points of navigation draws on the radiating image of communicating the Gospel, as Sacred Space, like generations of Jesuits, crosses boundaries and explores new frontiers as the message is taken north, east, west and south as good news. The logo's suggestion of movement, discovery, exploration, orientation and flowering are all associated with the enlightenment and prayer which Sacred Space seeks to sponsor. The current mark was adopted in 2011.

Using Sacred Space

It might seem strange to pray at your computer, in front of a screen or using your smartphone, especially if there are other people around you, or distracting noises. But God is everywhere, all around us, constantly reaching out to us, even in the most unlikely situations. When we know this, and with a bit of practice, we can pray anywhere!

We offer the pages of the site to guide you through a session of prayer, in six stages, including preparing your body and mind, and culminating in reflection on a scripture passage chosen specially for the day. The stages are:

The Presence of God

Freedom

Consciousness

The Word

Conversation

Conclusion

Although they are written in the first person - "I" - the prayers are for doing, rather than for reading out. Each stage is a kind of exercise or meditation aimed at helping you get in touch with God, and God's presence in your life.

Scripture texts

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For more information about this translation see NRSV.netNCC websites.

Other material

All other material on our site is the copyright of Sacred Space. Contact the office for more information - see Contact details. The presentation, content and texts in use on the site have been developed in collaboration with the network of local language teams around the world. Permission to reproduce any material from the language versions can be directed to the local language editors - see the Contact page of the relevant language version for details.